The intensity was immediate as Shantien was shown flying in the air above an airship in the sky, all while a powerful storm was brewing. Shantien then released a powerful roar that made several huge lightning bolts crash down on the ship, causing it to tip to one side. This caused a bow-wielding Huntress to fall down, the slanted angle combined with the wet and slippery dock caused her to slide off the edge of the ship. Thankfully, she was saved by another hunter. "Oh, no! Now it's gonna blow up the world!" The hunter shouted in panic as he resisted the wind whipping in his face.
Even though she was trying to hold on for dear life, the Huntress looked at her savior questioningly. "What are you talking about, idiot? I know it's an Elder Dragon, but nothing's THAT powerful." She said told him while trying to reach up with her other hand. Suddenly, the Shantien suddenly flew much higher into the air above the clouds, before unleashing a powerful blue shockwave that started to part the clouds in the sky, an orbital view showing this shockwave spreading across the planet.
Everyone was shocked that the video started off with an insanely intense moment. "Whoa! There wasn't even a zero here! We just STARTED at 100!" Qrow said in surprise.
"Yeah, that airship looks huge and Shantien practically made it go upside down!" Yang agreed, amazed at what the creature could do.
Then, everyone was left in complete shock at Shantien's apparent world-destroying explosion. "That had to be mile upon miles of absolute decimation. At least a continent's worth of destruction. Such a feat would require over 200 petatons of TNT. Likely closer to 300." Penny said in horror. [1]
"I haven't seen a level of destruction like that since what the God of Darkness did to the planet. And considering he only wiped out the people on it, not any of the land itself, this may actually be the greater feat." Ozpin said in disbelief.
"Th-that can't be real, can it? Surely that was Rage editing in another clip?" Ironwood all but prayed as he looked to Katana.
"Correct, it didn't shoot over life an eight of the planet, it only cleared the storm. Still a huge amount of power, but nowhere NEAR what Rage made it out to be." Katana assured them, letting everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
Despite essentially the apocalypse now happening from the shockwave, the Huntress only seemed slightly surprised. "Well, who could've seen this coming?" The Huntress asked as she tried reaching up again. Crickets were then heard as the Hunter holding her glared at her, before dropping her. "That's just childish!" She cried out as she plummeted from the sky towards the Earth.
Everyone was shocked as the Huntress fell. "That's ANOTHER joke, right? He didn't really drop her and she didn't really fall?" Pyrrha said hopefully.
"No. He didn't drop her and she didn't fall to her death. He caught her and pulled her back up. Lucky for them, Shantien decided to be merciful and show off instead." Katana assured them.
"Thank goodness." Glynda sighed in relief. "Still, I can't believe Rage would even joke about something like that!" She added, appalled.
"Yeah. That guy's sense of humor is SERIOUSLY messed up." Summer agreed.
Everything then went dark as the Huntress descended from the sky. "Master of the sky... Archrival to Black Dragons... The Heavenly Flying Dragon... Today, we feel the electrical, crackling force of Shantien." Rage spoke with an ominous echo, before Shantien was shown again, breaking apart the storm while shining a brilliant bright blue as it floated in the air high above the boat as the Hunters readied themselves to face it again.
Getting over the opening, they were amazed with the Elder Dragon, just like they were at their first glimpse of it. "So majestic..." Weiss said in amazement.
"So elegant..." Winter added, equally in awe.
"So pretty..." Velvet went on, also enchanted by the creature.
"Sooo shiny..." Ruby finished with stars in her eyes.
"The way it's glowing... It's as if it came from the heavens themselves." Hazel said in awe.
"And is that mane made out of light? It's almost... hypnotic." Blake said in awe.
Yang smirked. "Having laser pointer flashbacks, Blake?" She asked cheekily, dodging a pillow the cat girl threw at her.
Shantien was now down on the airship's dock, attacking a group of hunters. "Hello there then, my fellow hunters, as we talk one of the most fascinating, powerful and quite frankly ridiculous Elder Dragons of any known monster. Initially, very similar to Amatsu, around the same size, but very much capable of walking on land. He is the ruler of two elements: Water and Lightning. A sac pulsing with each courses such energy through his veins, he combines great beauty with awe-inspiring power." Rage said as the hunters evaded the Flying Wyverns and attacked the beast while dodging its attacks.
"Water and electricity. That's a dangerous combo." Ren said worriedly.
"Yeah, there's lots of ways to mix those two together for some strong attacks." Jaune agreed.
"Water to soak and weigh down an opponent, as well as make them more conductive towards electricity. I think this is one monster I'd rather stay away from." Cinder said, clearly fearful of being shocked by the beast.
"Are those sparkles coming off its body, by the way? If so, pretty cool. I dig it." Coco said, Ruby and Weiss looking at the monster with stars in their eyes, nodding at what Coco had just said, loving the Elder Dragon even more.
"Um... Are we just ignoring the fact it CHANGED THE WEATHER?!" Nora cried out, being the surprisingly sensible one for once.
"We've seen Elder Dragons do that before. But on this level... It's astounding." Adam said.
Then, the sound of thunder rang out as a terrifying image of the beast was shown. "Gleaming blue crystalline scales and a flowing cerulean mane lines his back. Like Amatsu, he is a master of storm and like Amatsu, he flies agile and quick, compressed air blasting to keep him aloft as he combines the fury of nature within himself. The more power he outputs, the more he starts to shine, the more his hair hues to white, a symbol of pure brilliance and a symbol of power. Shantien has many forms, he has many stages and he is not to be taken lightly." Rage warned as the hunters were shown fighting it again and managing to paralyze it.
"Oh! And if can fly with wind! How lovely. Totally not cheating at all." Ilia said sarcastically, clearly feeling outmatched by the monster.
"Uh. I think that's what the Elder Dragon class is, like, as a whole." Roman told her.
"I mean, they ARE called living natural disasters and stuff. They earned those titles for a reason." Emerald said.
"Then let's see what makes this one earn that title! Come on, let's see the action!" Neo cheered.
Then, the calm and cloudy skies were shown as Shantien was peacefully flying through them. "See, Shantien initially proved quite the enigma. Airship in the skies of Mezeporta kept vanishing, destroyed, disappearing. So, of course, the Guild had to investigate and in doing so, it tasked a great team of hunters and armed them with a marvel of engineering: The Large Exploration Ship." Rage explained as a massive ship in between two blimps was shown. "Multiple balloons mounted with a combat platform, bristling with weaponry, specifically engineered to combat, take down and kill any given flying threat. But they underestimated just how powerful Shantien would be and his discovery shook all to their core." Rage said as Shantien flew into the storm, encountered the ship and attacked the hunters aboard it, opening its mouth for a fierce roar... only for opera to blast out instead.
"Awesome! Look at the weaponry!" Ruby said, practically drooling over the ship.
"It is quite impressive ship, but the fact they had to build it for one specific monster is terrifying." Ironwood said.
"And from the sound of things, even that ship wasn't enough. I doubt it went well." Summer pointed out.
"Still, it would likely be a good idea to keep these weapons in mind for similar monsters." Winter suggested.
Shantien then flew into the air and roared again, causing lightning to crash down on the deck like before. "Battle commenced atop the deck and it did not go well. The hunters would have to dig deep and they would have to find every last ounce of strength. Shantien is quick. It is very, very quick. A leviathan in shape and movement, of course, but incredibly skilled. Blue particles, a mix of its natural thunder and water, along with compressed air, give it this almost ethereal blue fire shine as it careens above, majestic. How could anyone hope to defeat this creature that could even fly... upside down?" Rage questioned as an image of Shantien did indeed show it flying upside down.
"It is very difficult to fly upside down. I know from personal experience." Penny said, remembering when she attempted to fly upside down, only to tumble through the air and crash into Winter's office, her upper body going through Winter's desk and leaving her butt sticking up in the air.
"Water and Lightning are already enough, but wind, too? That's just not fair." Qrow said.
"Indeed. I'd say it's just shy of being a Maiden. But with the level of power it has, I'd say it already surpasses a Maiden's capabilities." Ozpin added, causing Cinder to grumble angrily that the dragon had more power than her.
The hunters then ran across the deck as Shantien floated in the air, releasing even more blue light than before. "The more and more fury this dragon musters, the brighter it glows. Eventually, cracks within its very body amidst the grey scales will start to ignite and brighten, creating this almost god-like visage. The fight happened in four phases: the first of which, a light skirmish atop the ship, but as Shantien's rage grew... Well, the weather took a dark turn, along with the monster's mood, the glistening sunlight converted into a torrent of storm: gale force winds, thunder flashing, torrential rain... it became a cruel battlefield, impossible for the hunters to get their footing, never mind combating the beast's ferocious onslaught. The battle had truly begun at this point." Rage declared as Shantien did a backflip and instantly changed the weather into the maddening storm Rage spoke of. [2]
"Oh, come on! That's just cheating! It's hard enough to fight an enemy that flies. Making it rain and making the deck slippery is pulling hacks!" Nora complained.
"That's survival of the fittest, Nora. It's using its greater abilities to outmatch the numbers advantage of the hunters. A creature will do everything it can to ensure its survival in the wild." Pyrrha told her.
"Still you would think if Shantien is this dangerous, it would be one of the rare cases that the Guild would send multiple teams like a siege rather than the usual four hunters." Weiss pointed out.
"Not likely. Even with that ship being huge, that deck they're fighting on doesn't have that much room with Shantien on deck with them. With sixteen hunters, there wouldn't be any room when Shantien lands down." Adam countered.
Shantien now floated above the hunters as the continued to fight it, struggling to even land a hit while evading its flying charges. "It encouraged this dramatic change in weather in a way much similar to Amatsu, using the same method by which it floats: changing the pressure in the atmosphere itself, condensing and the weather warped in response. Now, this enhanced this Elder Dragon by a great degree, its Thunder and Water sacs now positively bursting... pulsing... throbbing with MAXIMUM intensity!" Rage declared in a suggestive tone, romantic music playing in the background.
Glynda and many other more uptight cast members groaned at this. "Must he always resort to such vulgar innuendos?" Glynda questioned.
"It really feels like it takes away from the danger and seriousness of the situation when he does that. This is something you should treat with respect and take serious, especially super dangerous monsters like this." Velvet agreed with her teacher.
"Oh, come on, Bun-bun. It's all in good fun. And it lightens the mood from how dangerous and serious the monster is." Coco tried to reason with her girlfriend.
"Totally. A good laugh can turn around any situation. And innuendos always raise people spirits. And a few other things." Yang said with a smirk, holding her pointer finger like a hook, before slowly straightening it to point straight up.
"Blondie's got a point. I even used a few innuendos to actually get along with some of the White Fang." Roman said, before sighing. "Poor Perry." He added, mourning the White Fang soldier he had come to call a friend.
Shantien now flew a great distance away from the ship as the hunters fought against the wind. "And it used them in great gusto: huge flashes of lightning, great beam gouts of piercing water, it even manipulated the storm that it created to strike and lash out at its enemies. It really was quite the climactic battle. Eventually it started to soar, insane speeds dashing from side to side of the ship, becoming all but invincible as hitting it became... Well, past the ability of a mere mortal. There was, however, of course, a solution: either the gong, the ringing noise sending its equilibrium off balance and crashing to the deck or, by a miracle shot with the binders, lashing it and roping it to the ground for a more personal encounter. Now affixed to the deck, it took things, well... hand in hand and the melee intensifies. Eventually, though... there is one final stand. But we will get to that amidst this legendary hunt..." Rage spoke ominously as Shantien crashed to the deck, allowing the hunters to land some attacks on it.
"Such incredible speed. It would be devastating with the right hit-and-run tactics." Ren said.
"It doesn't even need to do that. From the sound of things, it has the storm doing all the work while it stays mostly out of reach." Blake added.
Then, some of them were somewhat taken aback when they saw the weaponry the ship had to offer. "A big gong? Really? Like, the ballista makes sense, but why a big gong?" Jaune questioned. Sure, the boy was a solid tactician, but when it came to weaponry, he was understandably a bit behind the curve.
"Sound can be a powerful weapon, boy. Besides just being loud and disorienting, if properly projected, sound can be deadly. You saw how those big soundwave trucks were stopping the Hulk. And that's how whales have been taken down prey for ages." Hazel pointed out.
"Oh, man. That gong would probably ruin a Faunus' whole day." Ilia groaned, shuddering at the thought of being in that gong's vicinity.
However, this window of opportunity was short-lived, as Shantien was back on its feet very quickly. "As I said, Shantien has a rivalry with a Black Dragon, a First Class dangerous monster. And that monster is Disufiroa." Rage explained as familiar footage of the silver and red dragon was shown with epic music. "The one that can summon apocalyptic-level hailstorms. One that can change the land itself into a blood red Hellscape. This is no joke and Shantien REALLY does not like him. And that should speak volumes to Shantien's pure might, that he can stand toe-to-toe with such a feared monster. So while Shantien himself is not in that upper category, not a First Class dangerous monster, he is in the upper echelons of Elder Dragons. At least as powerful as Amatsu, likely stronger- in fact, outside of the Black Dragons themselves, there is not many who can compete. He really is not to be taken lightly." Rage said, giving a brief glimpse of Amatsu, including its roar, before Shantien was shown fighting the hunters on the deck of the airship again.
"I want one SO bad. Even the Grimm wouldn't DARE mess with us. And if they did, they'd be dead in an instant." Neo said eagerly.
"I doubt something that strong would listen to any human. It's pretty clear it doesn't like anything being too close to it." Emerald said warily.
"I'm more concerned of exactly where it might make its territory. If it decides it wants Atlas, it could be devastating." Ironwood added.
Suddenly, everything began to go red as Shantien appeared to become furious and roar once again. "Finally then, the climax of this confrontation saw Shantien get to the end of his patience and rend the Great Exploration Ship asunder, sending it crashing, splintered and broken to the ground below, the ground below being a volcanic belt, the atmosphere dense and hot, the smoke, the magma, the sky itself crying out at what was happening underneath." Rage said as lightning struck the ship and sending it to the volcano below.
"Well, so much for that super ship, then." Qrow said.
"Well, all things considered, it's amazing it lasted that long." Glynda pointed out.
"Wow. These hunters have to have the worst luck in the world. This is LITERALLY out of the frying pan and into the fire." Coco said.
And now on this hazardous ground, Shantien's eyes and tips of its hair and fins began to glow orange. "And this is where Shantien revealed its last secret played, its last card... And as it turns out, it does not just command air, lightning, water, ice, the storm- no... It has a smaller, less developed, but still very much present Flame Sac hidden within it. Its eyes affixing orange, the tinge on its crystalline scales, its wings, its horns, its hair ALL start to shimmer and phase to orange, to a jet glow creating one of the most, let's be honest, badass-looking monsters just full stop- the blue fading to the orange- oh! The particles being jetted out used for flight... Well, they ignited and fused with the boiling air now here in the volcano. Helped along by his own Flame Sac, he becomes tinged with the very flames themselves, combining with his lightning, combining with his ice, he now has complete command of all elements except Dragon." Rage said as the creature tore up the ground below it in some places to make a geyser of lava.
"It can use FIRE?!" Everyone shouted together in shock.
"Oh, come on! So it can actually use all the natural elements?! That's so broken! Half these monsters make even being a Maiden seem weak!" Cinder huffed.
"Gotta admit, though. The orange and blue together looks awesome. Maybe I should train with my semblance to see if I can get blue tips? Or I'll just dye it." Yang praised the color change.
"I don't think so." Summer shot the idea down.
It then flew by the hunters at deadly speeds while surrounded by a fiery wind aura, lightning striking all around. "Twisted, merged combined and comboed... He rained holy Hell down on the hunters as he drew every vestige of his strength. This was the final stand of Shantien: flame-lightning, meteors of scorching ice-" Rage began, before everything went black for a moment. "-Don't ask me how that works, but it do!" He added quickly with an echo, before returning to the fight. "The hunters had to survive it all. They had to survive the pinnacle of this Elder Dragon's might as they pushed it further and further into a corner. But once injured enough, once weakened enough... This creature's ultimate downfall was its own strength. Much like Nakarkos, who fries his own brain with a blast of Dragon his weakened body cannot handle, Shantien suffered a similar fate." Rage said as Shantien attacked with the elemental fury the host spoke of.
"Burning hail... my processors are in danger of short circuiting." Penny said, barely able to handle this news.
"This thing is absolutely insane!" Ilia cried out.
"If by insane, you mean awesome!" Ruby cried out.
But then, they were all shocked when they heard the creature's own power endangered it. "No... Not like this... Don't let it happen." Neo pleaded, fearing she'd see the monster's demise.
Shantien was then seen in the air, reeling with pain and anger, before roaring and charging up a massive attack. "This much Elemental Energy, this much fire in his being... Well, he's not really made for it. Eventually... He went for an attack that was too much for his own body to handle and it combusted, it imploded and detonated internally, shattering and shredding his organs, breaking his form and instantly killing him in a moment, his lifeless body floating to the ground, his own particles shimmering of beauty on this creature's final moment. Shantien truly is something marvelous to behold." He spoke sadly with an echo as Shantien flew higher into the air, ready to fire this ultimate attack, only for an explosion of electricity to happen within him instead, his body going limp and plummeting to the ground, going still forever.
"Nooo! Poor Shantien. It didn't deserve that!" Ruby cried.
"Ruby... It was shooting down airships." Blake pointed out.
"Hush, you! That creature was a beautiful gift to the world and the airships invaded its territory!" Weiss wept.
"It was so majestic and elegant... It's so tragic to see it die from its own power. Why does this have to happen?" Velvet sobbed.
"The conflict between man and nature has unfortunate casualties at times." Ozpin said regretfully.
Before anyone could give their thoughts, Ruby zoomed up right in front of Katana and looked at her with a bright eyed, hopeful expression, praying the Ice Demon would grant them the gift of of having Shantien on Remnant, "Katana-" Ruby began, but was shot down before she could ask her question.
"No!" Katana shot her down immediately.
"But-" Ruby tried to argue.
"NO!" Katana snapped with complete finality
"Awww... Why do we always miss out on the coolest monsters?" Ruby moped.
"That was so epic! All those powers together is insane, but it also looks super cool, too. Everything about it is a feast for the eyes." Emerald said.
"Yeah. If they were more peaceful, I'd love to observe and maybe draw one." Blake agreed.
"And they look so cool when they're flying! I want to fly like them!" Nora declared.
"I wouldn't mind having a Shantien statue back home at the Schnee Manor, to be honest." Weiss admitted.
"I'd like to see them all around Atlas." Winter went a step further.
Neo perked up at this. "Ooh! That's not a bad idea! But why stop at Shantien in Atlas? We should put up steel statues of all different kinds of monsters in all the kingdoms in places like town squares, libraries, schools and stuff like that! Yang, wouldn't you love to see a statue of a Rajang raising its fists and roaring in your hometown?" She asked.
"That would be pretty cool. Or maybe in front of Signal. There's a lot of great possibilities." Yang agreed.
"I also wouldn't mind that. I wouldn't mind seeing a Rathalos statue in the town square in Argus." Pyrrha said, picturing the place where a statue of her would've been built in the original timeline, only with a Rathalos statue there instead.
"A Kirin statue would be perfect to put in front of the Glass Unicorn." Cinder added.
"Or maybe statues of Elder Dragons on top of the CCT towers. That might discourage Grimm or other monsters from going after them." Summer suggested, thinking of Valstrax statues on top of the towers.
"Even I wouldn't mind replacing the statue in front of Beacon with a Kushala statue." Ozpin admitted.
"And, of course, there's no need for simply giant statues in front of important buildings and landmarks. Why not smaller statues to be placed on desks or mantles?" Glynda added, thinking of having a Lagiacrus statue on her desk.
"We actually do have those." Razara said, summoning an Alatreon statue to her hands.
"Well, then, it's certainly a viable option." Glynda said.
"So, what's next?" Jaune asked.
"Well, you may want to prepare yourselves, because Espinas is deadly enough to kill you IN ITS SLEEP." Katana declared, starting the next video.
[1] Thank you Gray vs. Esdeath Death Battle!
[2] So, for anyone wondering, I made this fight a past tense about the specific situation the hunters in the story were in rather than the usual way Rage explains the fights with the monsters because of how situational the fight is. Besides how rare Shantien is, realistically not every hunter will have the luxury of the Large Exploration Ship any time they face a Shantien.